Should You Ever Prepay Your Mortgage?

The Cons
Remember that prepaying a mortgage isn’t the best option for everyone. And in addition to making sure that your other higher-interest, non-deductible debts are paid first and your retirement and emergency savings accounts are in order, there are a few other reasons why you might not choose to prepare your mortgage:

Your interest rate is extremely low. If you were lucky enough to refinance into a 30-year fixed-rate loan at 4 percent or below, that’s a historic interest rate. You might want to keep that rate and use your free cash for something else, like…

You’ve found other investments with a higher rate of return. You might decide to invest your savings in the stock market or another investment that has a higher rate of return over time. Or, you might decide to buy investment property.

But if neither of these scenarios apply to you, go ahead and apply a few extra payments to your principal this year. The less time it takes you to pay off your loan, the more money you’ll save in the long run.

Ilyce Glink is an award-winning author, columnist, radio talk show host, and blogger who specializes in real estate and personal finance. Find her online at ThinkGlink.com.